Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹“Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand.

²I know as much as you do. You are no better than I am.

³As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself.

⁴As for you, you smear me with lies. As physicians, you are worthless quacks.

⁵If only you could be silent! That’s the wisest thing you could do.

⁶Listen to my charge; pay attention to my arguments.

⁷“Are you defending God with lies? Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake?

⁸Will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God’s case for him?

⁹What will happen when he finds out what you are doing? Can you fool him as easily as you fool people?

¹⁰No, you will be in trouble with him if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor.

¹¹Doesn’t his majesty terrify you? Doesn’t your fear of him overwhelm you?

¹²Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.

¹³“Be silent now and leave me alone. Let me speak, and I will face the consequences.

¹⁴Why should I put myself in mortal danger and take my life in my own hands?

¹⁵God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him.

¹⁶But this is what will save me — I am not godless. If I were, I could not stand before him.

¹⁷“Listen closely to what I am about to say. Hear me out.

¹⁸I have prepared my case; I will be proved innocent.

¹⁹Who can argue with me over this? And if you prove me wrong, I will remain silent and die.

²⁰“O God, grant me these two things, and then I will be able to face you.

²¹Remove your heavy hand from me, and don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.

²²Now summon me, and I will answer! Or let me speak to you, and you reply.

²³Tell me, what have I done wrong? Show me my rebellion and my sin.

²⁴Why do you turn away from me? Why do you treat me as your enemy?

²⁵Would you terrify a leaf blown by the wind? Would you chase dry straw?

²⁶“You write bitter accusations against me and bring up all the sins of my youth.

²⁷You put my feet in stocks. You examine all my paths. You trace all my footprints.

²⁸I waste away like rotting wood, like a moth-eaten coat.

¹“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble!

²We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.

³Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature and demand an accounting from me?

⁴Who can bring purity out of an impure person? No one!

⁵You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.

⁶So leave us alone and let us rest! We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.

⁷“Even a tree has more hope! If it is cut down, it will sprout again and grow new branches.

⁸Though its roots have grown old in the earth and its stump decays,

⁹at the scent of water it will bud and sprout again like a new seedling.

¹⁰“But when people die, their strength is gone. They breathe their last, and then where are they?

¹¹As water evaporates from a lake and a river disappears in drought,

¹²people are laid to rest and do not rise again. Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up nor be roused from their sleep.

¹³“I wish you would hide me in the grave and forget me there until your anger has passed. But mark your calendar to think of me again!

¹⁴Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death.

¹⁵You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.

¹⁶For then you would guard my steps, instead of watching for my sins.

¹⁷My sins would be sealed in a pouch, and you would cover my guilt.

¹⁸“But instead, as mountains fall and crumble and as rocks fall from a cliff,

¹⁹as water wears away the stones and floods wash away the soil, so you destroy people’s hope.

²⁰You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene. You disfigure them in death and send them away.

²¹They never know if their children grow up in honor or sink to insignificance.

²²They suffer painfully; their life is full of trouble.”

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag.

³The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words?

⁴Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him?

⁵Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception.

⁶Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you.

⁷“Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made?

⁸Were you listening at God’s secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?

⁹What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that we do not?

¹⁰On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father!

¹¹“Is God’s comfort too little for you? Is his gentle word not enough?

¹²What has taken away your reason? What has weakened your vision,

¹³that you turn against God and say all these evil things?

¹⁴Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just?

¹⁵Look, God does not even trust the angels. Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.

¹⁶How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness!

¹⁷“If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience.

¹⁸And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers —

¹⁹from those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived.

²⁰“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.

²¹The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.

²²They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered.

²³They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’ They know their day of destruction is near.

²⁴That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle.

²⁵For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty.

²⁶Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him.

²⁷“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat.

²⁸But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down.

²⁹Their riches will not last, and their wealth will not endure. Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.

³⁰“They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them.

³¹Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward.

³²They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green.

³³They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.

³⁴For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.

³⁵They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit.”

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are!

³Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking?

⁴I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.

⁵But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief.

⁶Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.

⁷“O God, you have ground me down and devastated my family.

⁸As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me.

⁹God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes.

¹⁰People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek in contempt. A mob gathers against me.

¹¹God has handed me over to sinners. He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²“I was living quietly until he shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then he set me up as his target,

¹³and now his archers surround me. His arrows pierce me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood.

¹⁴Again and again he smashes against me, charging at me like a warrior.

¹⁵I wear burlap to show my grief. My pride lies in the dust.

¹⁶My eyes are red with weeping; dark shadows circle my eyes.

¹⁷Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf.

¹⁹Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high.

²⁰My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.

²¹I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.

²²For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.

¹“My spirit is crushed, and my life is nearly snuffed out. The grave is ready to receive me.

²I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me.

³“You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph.

⁵They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.

⁶“God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.

⁷My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.

⁸The virtuous are horrified when they see me. The innocent rise up against the ungodly.

⁹The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.

¹⁰“As for all of you, come back with a better argument, though I still won’t find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart’s desires are broken.

¹²These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light.

¹³What if I go to the grave and make my bed in darkness?

¹⁴What if I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister?

¹⁵Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it?

¹⁶No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!”

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer!

³Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid?

⁴You may tear out your hair in anger, but will that destroy the earth? Will it make the rocks tremble?

⁵“Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. The sparks of their fire will not glow.

⁶The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.

⁷The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened. Their own schemes will be their downfall.

⁸The wicked walk into a net. They fall into a pit.

⁹A trap grabs them by the heel. A snare holds them tight.

¹⁰A noose lies hidden on the ground. A rope is stretched across their path.

¹¹“Terrors surround the wicked and trouble them at every step.

¹²Hunger depletes their strength, and calamity waits for them to stumble.

¹³Disease eats their skin; death devours their limbs.

¹⁴They are torn from the security of their homes and are brought down to the king of terrors.

¹⁵The homes of the wicked will burn down; burning sulfur rains on their houses.

¹⁶Their roots will dry up, and their branches will wither.

¹⁷All memory of their existence will fade from the earth; no one will remember their names.

¹⁸They will be thrust from light into darkness, driven from the world.

¹⁹They will have neither children nor grandchildren, nor any survivor in the place where they lived.

²⁰People in the west are appalled at their fate; people in the east are horrified.

²¹They will say, ‘This was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God.’”

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words?

³You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly.

⁴Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours.

⁵You think you’re better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.

⁶But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net.

⁷“I cry out, ‘Help!’ but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice.

⁸God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness.

⁹He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.

¹⁰He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree.

¹¹His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy.

¹²His troops advance. They build up roads to attack me. They camp all around my tent.

¹³“My relatives stay far away, and my friends have turned against me.

¹⁴My family is gone, and my close friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵My servants and maids consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them.

¹⁶When I call my servant, he doesn’t come; I have to plead with him!

¹⁷My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family.

¹⁸Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.

¹⁹My close friends detest me. Those I loved have turned against me.

²⁰I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.

²¹“Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for the hand of God has struck me.

²²Must you also persecute me, like God does? Haven’t you chewed me up enough?

²³“Oh, that my words could be recorded. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,

²⁴carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.

²⁵“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.

²⁶And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!

²⁷I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!

²⁸“How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, ‘It’s his own fault’?

²⁹You should fear punishment yourselves, for your attitude deserves punishment. Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment.”

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²“I must reply because I am greatly disturbed.

³I’ve had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply.

⁴“Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time, ever since people were first placed on the earth,

⁵the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?

⁶Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens and their heads touch the clouds,

⁷yet they will vanish forever, thrown away like their own dung. Those who knew them will ask, ‘Where are they?’

⁸They will fade like a dream and not be found. They will vanish like a vision in the night.

⁹Those who once saw them will see them no more. Their families will never see them again.

¹⁰Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches.

¹¹Though they are young, their bones will lie in the dust.

¹²“They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness, letting it melt under their tongue.

¹³They savored it, holding it long in their mouths.

¹⁴But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach.

¹⁵They will vomit the wealth they swallowed. God won’t let them keep it down.

¹⁶They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them.

¹⁷They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey.

¹⁸They will give back everything they worked for. Their wealth will bring them no joy.

¹⁹For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute. They foreclosed on their homes.

²⁰They were always greedy and never satisfied. Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.

²¹Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.

²²“In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble and be overcome by misery.

²³May God give them a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon them.

²⁴When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.

²⁵The arrow is pulled from their back, and the arrowhead glistens with blood. The terrors of death are upon them.

²⁶Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left.

²⁷The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them.

²⁸A flood will sweep away their house. God’s anger will descend on them in torrents.

²⁹This is the reward that God gives the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God.”

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“Listen closely to what I am saying. That’s one consolation you can give me.

³Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me.

⁴“My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient.

⁵Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock.

⁶When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles.

⁷“Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful?

⁸They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren.

⁹Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them.

¹⁰Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry.

¹¹They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance.

¹²They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute.

¹³They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace.

¹⁴And yet they say to God, ‘Go away. We want no part of you and your ways.

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’

¹⁶(They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.)

¹⁷“Yet the light of the wicked never seems to be extinguished. Do they ever have trouble? Does God distribute sorrows to them in anger?

¹⁸Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm like chaff? Not at all!

¹⁹“‘Well,’ you say, ‘at least God will punish their children!’ But I say he should punish the ones who sin, so that they understand his judgment.

²⁰Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty.

²¹For they will not care what happens to their family after they are dead.

²²“But who can teach a lesson to God, since he judges even the most powerful?

²³One person dies in prosperity, completely comfortable and secure,

²⁴the picture of good health, vigorous and fit.

²⁵Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life.

²⁶But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots.

²⁷“Look, I know what you’re thinking. I know the schemes you plot against me.

²⁸You will tell me of rich and wicked people whose houses have vanished because of their sins.

²⁹But ask those who have been around, and they will tell you the truth.

³⁰Evil people are spared in times of calamity and are allowed to escape disaster.

³¹No one criticizes them openly or pays them back for what they have done.

³²When they are carried to the grave, an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb.

³³A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery. Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest, and the earth gives sweet repose.

³⁴“How can your empty clichés comfort me? All your explanations are lies!”

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“Can a person do anything to help God? Can even a wise person be helpful to him?

³Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?

⁴Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you and brings judgment against you?

⁵No, it’s because of your wickedness! There’s no limit to your sins.

⁶“For example, you must have lent money to your friend and demanded clothing as security. Yes, you stripped him to the bone.

⁷You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry.

⁸You probably think the land belongs to the powerful and only the privileged have a right to it!

⁹You must have sent widows away empty-handed and crushed the hopes of orphans.

¹⁰That is why you are surrounded by traps and tremble from sudden fears.

¹¹That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover you.

¹²“God is so great — higher than the heavens, higher than the farthest stars.

¹³But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness?

¹⁴For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’

¹⁵“Will you continue on the old paths where evil people have walked?

¹⁶They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away.

¹⁷For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’

¹⁸Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.

¹⁹“The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed, and the innocent will laugh in contempt.

²⁰They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’

²¹“Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you.

²²Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart.

²³If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored — so clean up your life.

²⁴If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river,

²⁵the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!

²⁶“Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God.

²⁷You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him.

²⁸You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you.

²⁹If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’ God will save them.

³⁰Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure.”

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“My complaint today is still a bitter one, and I try hard not to groan aloud.

³If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his court.

⁴I would lay out my case and present my arguments.

⁵Then I would listen to his reply and understand what he says to me.

⁶Would he use his great power to argue with me? No, he would give me a fair hearing.

⁷Honest people can reason with him, so I would be forever acquitted by my judge.

⁸I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him.

⁹I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed.

¹⁰“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.

¹¹For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside.

¹²I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.

¹³But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind? Whatever he wants to do, he does.

¹⁴So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny.

¹⁵No wonder I am so terrified in his presence. When I think of it, terror grips me.

¹⁶God has made me sick at heart; the Almighty has terrified me.

¹⁷Darkness is all around me; thick, impenetrable darkness is everywhere.

¹“Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain?

²Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers. They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures.

³They take the orphan’s donkey and demand the widow’s ox as security for a loan.

⁴The poor are pushed off the path; the needy must hide together for safety.

⁵Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor must spend all their time looking for food, searching even in the desert for food for their children.

⁶They harvest a field they do not own, and they glean in the vineyards of the wicked.

⁷All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering.

⁸They are soaked by mountain showers, and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home.

⁹“The wicked snatch a widow’s child from her breast, taking the baby as security for a loan.

¹⁰The poor must go about naked, without any clothing. They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving.

¹¹They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it, and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst.

¹²The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning.

¹³“Wicked people rebel against the light. They refuse to acknowledge its ways or stay in its paths.

¹⁴The murderer rises in the early dawn to kill the poor and needy; at night he is a thief.

¹⁵The adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No one will see me then.’ He hides his face so no one will know him.

¹⁶Thieves break into houses at night and sleep in the daytime. They are not acquainted with the light.

¹⁷The black night is their morning. They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness.

¹⁸“But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards.

¹⁹The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow.

²⁰Their own mothers will forget them. Maggots will find them sweet to eat. No one will remember them. Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm.

²¹They cheat the woman who has no son to help her. They refuse to help the needy widow.

²²“God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life.

²³They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them.

²⁴And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain.

²⁵Can anyone claim otherwise? Who can prove me wrong?”

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“God is powerful and dreadful. He enforces peace in the heavens.

³Who is able to count his heavenly army? Doesn’t his light shine on all the earth?

⁴How can a mortal be innocent before God? Can anyone born of a woman be pure?

⁵God is more glorious than the moon; he shines brighter than the stars.

⁶In comparison, people are maggots; we mortals are mere worms.”